Thought Kimmel was anti-Trump before? You should watch his show now [View all]

It should be startling to hear the president of the United States described as looking like “a glazed ham with deep vein thrombosis”. Let alone on a mainstream talk show like Jimmy Kimmel Live!. But this recent punchline (deriding Trump’s medical expertise after the Tylenol saga) is revealing of the combative climate currently engulfing the US TV landscape. In these feverish times, a joke like this has become not only acceptable but unexceptional.

It’s also an indication of just how punchy the show has become since returning from a week-long suspension in September. Kimmel and his writers have roared back with a vengeance and been relentless in their mockery of the country’s commander-in-chief.

Over the past seven weeks, nothing has seemed off-limits: Trump’s appearance and behaviour; his family and associates; his policies and their impact. And while the president might wish that the troublesome question of the Epstein files would go away, Kimmel and co. are doing everything they can to keep it on the radar.

If there was any degree of caution or reticence before the show’s removal and reinstatement, it’s been abandoned. Kimmel and his writers are now off the leash.

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